The Fashion Handbook
by Kassadee Marie, HSM team writer
Introduction:
There are a lot of great virtual clothes in Home from almost every developer, but I’m sorry to say…a lot of it is worn poorly, especially swimsuit pieces. Thus, here are some tips – “Do’s and Don’ts” – to help you dress much better on Home.
These tips are mostly for newcomers, but I’ve seen some old-timers in Home that could use some help, too. And, yes, before you say it – these are just my opinions. They’re based on my experience of over two and half years in Home, dressing my own avatar and observing others and how they dress, and how other people react to them.
Chapter 1: Shop wisely.
Get out of those default clothes.
First, pick up the basics. The fundamentals for females are a black dress or skirt in your preferred length; blue jeans in your choice of style; a neutral-colored pair of shorts; two or three cute tops in your favorite colors and at least one dress-up blouse; black heels and sneaks in your favorite matching colors; and several hairdos. The basic for guys are very similar – black dress pants; blue jeans in the style you prefer; neutral-colored shorts; several casual shirts, t-shirts or hoodies and at least one dress shirt; black dress shoes and at least one pair of sneaks or other casual shoes; and one really good looking hairdo. Then, after picking up the basics, look for bargains – usually freebies, older items, sale items and bundles – to combine in fresh ways. The latest clothing items aren’t automatically better. Be sure you not only try on anything before you buy, but try it on with what you plan to wear it with, if possible.
Chapter 2: Don’t wear clothes that “clip”.
If one clothing item “bleeds” partially through another piece, it’s called clipping. The reason for this is that both items are trying to take up the same virtual space at that same time, which we all know from the principles of physics is not possible. I’ve seen some very minor clipping that was acceptable, but I’m tempted to say there are no exceptions to this rule because I’ve seen some people wearing clothes that clip so badly, I wanted to smack them. Why do guys think that a “cowboy outfit” must have cowboy boots, even if they clip with the pants? Dudes! If you can’t find boot-cut pants to wear, don’t wear the boots. No one can see most of your boots under your pants anyway. There may be a fix for this some day when Home has the sophistication that allows us to choose the layering of our clothes. In other words, if your top is tucked into your pants or skirt or if it lays over it; if your pants are tucked into your boots or cover them; and so forth. In the meantime, look out for clipping and wear a different combination if it happens.
Chapter 3: Colors need to match or coordinate.
Match…not be “close enough” or almost matching, but truly match, and this includes shoes or boots. Sometimes clothes made by the same developer will have new shades of a color they used previously or they will add a “texture” that makes a color look very different. Even black comes in shades. When you leave your personal space and go into public spaces, there will be all kinds of different lighting and this may change the tone of one of the pieces that you’re wearing, also. Matching colors still need to have rule #4 below applied. Not every shade of every color goes together, so just because you’re wearing a blue top and a blue bottom, it doesn’t mean they coordinate. Actually, colors that are close, but not quite the same hue usually look worse than those that contrast. In other words, a light-blue blouse or shirt would look better with a navy blue skirt or pants than with slightly different light-blue item, in most cases.
Chapter 4: Styles must match, too.
Gah! Ladies and Gentlemen, I wonder what you’re thinking sometimes! A Cleopatra hairdo with modern clothes, swimsuits with boots, gloves with a t-shirt and casual pants, swim suit tops with long skirts, swim suit bottoms with formal tops, boots under long dresses and more fashion faux pas than I can list here? Have some class. We all want to look unique, but unless you’re trying to look weird, keep your clothing in the same style and in the same era.
Chapter 5: Choose the right accessories.
As an example of choosing the right accessories, if your clothing has silver touches, your earrings, necklace and bracelets need to be silver also, not gold. Opera-length gloves are meant for formal attire, not casual. If you must wear gloves with a short skirt, the gloves should be wrist length. Also, just because you can wear a necklace with something, doesn’t mean you should; jewelry does not belong with a swimsuit, any more than a purse does. Accessories are meant to accent, not overwhelm.
Chapter 6: Shoes, sandals, boots or bare feet.
Shoes are all-important to complete your look, when you need them. So please get it right! Ladies, heels with swimsuits are just wrong, unless you’re in a beauty pageant. (And good grief, why would you want to be?) Gentlemen, boots do not belong with swim suits – ever – and remember the clipping rule #2 above, whenever you’re wearing boots. In general it’s actually fairly simple: sandals or bare feet go with swimsuits; sneaks or other casual shoes (flats) go with casual clothes; and dress shoes (with a matching or neutral color) go with dress clothes. Boots can add panache, but be careful. It’s easy for them to look really bad with the wrong outfit.
Chapter 7: Suit your clothes to your setting.
Enough with the swimsuits in the Hub or Winter 2012, or anywhere except at a beach or pool setting, ladies. You don’t need to look for any more attention than you’ll be getting already, just due to the fact that you’re female. Guys, please stop wearing full body armor to the beach, especially if you’re going to swim. There are free bare torsos and shorts to be found, and bare feet look fine there. Use some common sense and choose outfits for where you’ll be wearing them. For instance, modern clothes look out of place at Great Edo of Nippon, so I suggest some traditional Japanese clothing be worn there, such as a yukata. You could even match your clothes to the game you’re playing, such as a pirate outfit at Cutthroats: Battle for Black Powder Cove. This will add to the sense of realism and it will add to your fun.
Chapter 8: Sometimes, do it your own way.
For all the advice that I’ve given – and I hope it helps – sometimes you’re just going to want to do it your way — like that old song, “My Way,” that my granddad liked. So, go ahead and try your idea, but be sure you’ve checked it out at your private space first. Trying something new in public can be risky.
A Final Thought:
There’s probably no such thing as perfection in clothing on Home – unless you wear an entire outfit from one developer that’s made to match – but the idea is to come as close as possible. It’s easy to wear all the pieces of an outfit together; it takes trial and error to mix it up and get it right. Try to have flair, not glare. Be edgy, but not over the edge. Look at what other people are wearing that appeals to you. I’m not suggesting that you copy them exactly, but look for the details that work for them and feel right for you. You want your outfits to draw attention and compliments for their style, not laughter for looking like a huge mistake. Don’t try so hard to be different that you end up being a joke. Your own opinion counts the most, but this is one of the times when other peoples’ opinions can count, too.
January 4th, 2013 by Kassadee Marie | 5 comments
Home is endlessly entertaining to this California girl. Kassadee has been in Home for about four years, and loves almost everything about it (with a few notable exceptions). She spends way too much money there, and perhaps too much time... Someday she will travel the world and write about the people she meets and the places she sees.
I think I’m usually found in some kind of monster costume in Home. Such things are so hard to wear in real life (expensive, too hot, heavy, etc), so I like strolling around as an alien, sandman, robot, lavaman, etc, in Home. This is probably not very fashionable, though
Not sure about being fashionable but I do tend to want to fit into my environment in Home. I have various outfits saved to favs so I can quickly (HA! Quickly in wardrobe! I know, I’m hilarious) change into something that looks like I belong in the space. It used to annoy me a lot when I’d see people going for a swim in a tuxedo or traipsing around a tropical island setting in heavy jackets n’ boots, but then you’d see people in the most ridiculous costumes that make the others look normal. The final straw was that White Knight Chronicles outfit, remember that, the gigantic pink thing with spikes so large they’d acctually block ALL of your camera’s visual field? The worst thing about that was it was free! So damn near everyone and their Gran had one on. Drove. Me. NUTS!!!
After that died down I learned to live with the freaks in Home, bit like an arachnophobe living in a shed full of spiders for a month lol.
I dont mind silly costumes, just the right place n’ time usually helps, and if it’s not a full-body-single piece and actually made with imagination I might even give you credit for it!
I used to change almost everytime I moved from a space to another.
Maybe I’m getting lazy or just to impatient with wardrobe but I must admit I don’t always dress for the environnement.
Especially true when I go some place mostly to collect points/credits. I often can be seen at the Southern Hideaway over dress or in armor. But I do tend to be over dress in physical world too. Not in a “classy” way, just not too found of showing flesh.
At Novus it’s the opposite. I used to be in armor all the time. But I spend so much time there…. Now I wear civilian clothing most of the time or a silly looking combo.
You might had give me that proverbious “kick on the bottom”. The way avatar are dressed around you certainly help dor the immersion feeling.
grrr gave* me that…. & for the immersion…
Next time I’ll read my post before posting…
I love dressing my avatar as much as I love decorating my spaces. I don’t have to have the newest stuff all the time, but if one strikes my fancy I will buy it after carefully trying it out with several different combos. I almost always go to my Harbor to shop so I can look, then try the tops or bottoms I buy with others. For me it is all about creating my own unique style and look, mixing and matching is essential for this. Nice job as always Kass.